Advertisement

Ex-Kaupþing Chair Sued Special Prosecutor

News

Ex-Kaupþing Chair Sued Special Prosecutor

Former chair of collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupþing, Sigurður Einarsson, filed a lawsuit against Special Prosecutor of Iceland Ólafur Þór Hauksson and Björn Þorvaldsson, a prosecutor working at the office, at the end of October 2013, as revealed on the website of business weekly Viðskiptablaðið yesterday.

In the lawsuit, filed to the state prosecutor, it was requested that an investigation be launched into the competence of Ólafur and Björn given that they intentionally provided Reykjavík District Court and Interpol with false information about Sigurður in 2010, or so the lawsuit reads.

It is maintained that this was done in order to have the court’s verdict on Sigurður’s arrest followed through. Interpol subsequently published a ‘wanted’ notice on Sigurður, portraying him as a criminal on the run.

The state prosecutor decided to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that the alleged violations by Ólafur and Björn had become void.

“It is a very peculiar case and, truth be told, I think it’s dreadful,” said Gestur Jónsson, Sigurður’s lawyer.

In order for Interpol to publish a so-called ‘red notice’ on a person, he or she should be wanted to appear in court facing a charge or to serve a sentence. Neither applied to Sigurður’s case, as he had not been charged and no sentence had been determined, the story on vb.is reads.